40 percent fewer babies had affliction if moms took supplements

Feb. 12, 2013

A decline in birth rates has been fueled largely by recession and slower immigration. / Katie Collins/PA Wire

Written by

Liz Szabo

USA Today

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Women who took folic acid supplements before and during pregnancy were about 40 percent less likely to have a baby later diagnosed with autism, according to a provocative new study.

The dramatic increase in the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders, which affect 1 in 88 children, has generated intense interest in learning the causes of autism, as well as better ways to treat and prevent the condition.

In the new study, which included more than 85,000 Norwegian children, doctors asked pregnant women to fill out a questionnaire about supplement use, both before and during their pregnancies. Researchers then followed the children, born between 2002 to 2008, for an average of six years.

Doctors have encouraged women to take folic acid before and during pregnancy for years, because it can reduce the risk of birth defects.

In this study, the critical window for folic acid consumption was four weeks before conception through the eighth week of pregnancy. Overall, women who took supplements during this window were 27 percent less likely than others to have a baby with any autism spectrum disorder, which includes autism disorder — the most severe form — as well as Asperger’s syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS).

Women who took folic acid during that window were about 40 percent less likely to have a child later diagnosed with autism disorder.

In addition, researchers found no decrease in the individual risk of two milder subtypes of autism — Asperger’s syndrome or pervasive developmental disorder — which tend to be diagnosed later. It’s possible that children in the study, at an average age of 6, were too young for these disorders to have been diagnosed, said study co-author Pal Suren of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo.

Folate, the natural form of folic acid, is found in lentils, spinach, black beans, peanuts, orange juice, romaine lettuce and broccoli.